It is an undeniable fact that education is the backbone of a country economy. If a country has a splendid education system then the rest of the institutions such as transportation, telecommunication, industry, health, trade, transportation, defense, sport, agriculture, even law and order situation and over all life standard will be up to the mark. Recently, countries with an updated education system are leading the world. China, South Kora and Singapore are the best modal to be followed. These countries have invested a huge chunk of money on applied research and had bolstered education on grassroot level as a result their economies are burgeoning with great zeal and fervor. China is now the largest economy of the world. Almost in all fields China has surpassed the USA. According to the US think tank in artificial intelligence America is a primary school child versus China. All these proceedings are only possible because China has an updated education system according to the current market needs and is focusing too much on research and they have research based industry in most fields. To achieve a sustainable and real growth in each department we will have to follow our neighbors.
In order to produce quality researchers, intellectuals and erudite graduates the first step should be an efficient, merit based and transparent teacher recruitment system. The government has already updated the syllabus, which is appreciable, but most of the teachers in Khyber Pakhtukhuwa do not have the required ability and qualification to teach these subjects conceptually. As a result, majority of rural areas’ students could not compete with the world after completing their secondary schools. Secondly, the teachers should have at least Masters of Philosophy degrees in their respective fields, because these teachers have research experience and they could inculcate the spirit of research in the students. Beside a teacher with higher qualification has a strong hold on his/her subject. Similarly, the principal of the school should be highly qualified too, who can judge teachers ability whether he/she has proper skill or not. For the purpose, the KP Government had taken many initiatives.
To ameliorate the government schools performance the KP government had introduced monitoring system in 2014. Although, this system has many glitches, yet it has proved to be very successful and the employees been given permanent status. To improve the education standard the KP Government is now going to recruit three layers of new authorities, which is a tremendous step. The name of these administrators will be leader, senior leader and deputy district education quality officers. The new administration will burnish the performance of the existing authorities. According to this program 2500 leaders, 190 senior leaders and 28 deputy district education quality officers will be recruited in the first instalment. This program is planning to examine three schools by one leader, and 6 leaders will be monitored by one senior leader. It means that a senior leader will be responsible for 18 schools. Similarly, the deputy district education quality officer will focus on senior school leaders of a specific area.
Every effort to bolster the education system should be appreciated but huge problem is the nomination of the appropriate candidates who have the required skill and experience for the mentioned posts. The administrative experience is an on job training and it should not be the prerequisite for the required jobs. The government should focus on multidimensional aspects of these posts. Preparing curriculum, introduce new and updated courses, link education with society, introduce new courses, address problems of the society in the curriculum, design modern examination system for schools, uproot the social evils through education, inculcate environmental problems to the students, make a bond with parents and teachers, prepare conceptual papers for the exam, recruit excellent teachers, eradicate the traditional system and anchor the education system on real basis, must be the focus. Therefore, for the coming posts of the school leaders the minimum qualification should be M.Phil. A fair test should be conducted in Mathematics, English and science subjects through ETEA or NTS for the selection of the school leaders. If the Government recruit qualified school leaders (minimum qualification M.Phil.) it will be a prodigious breakthrough in our education system.
